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Oops, I did it again: provocateur Palmer
Photo: ULMER / imago images / ULMER press picture agency
When it comes to scandal, Boris Palmer has more experience than most politicians.
For years, the mayor of Tübingen and former young star of the Greens has regularly caused a stir with statements that are more or less diametrically opposed to the convictions of his party friends.
There are "always new provocations that exclude and hurt people," wrote party leader Annalena Baerbock on Saturday.
Palmer had previously attracted attention again through a Facebook comment, this time on ex-national soccer player Dennis Aogo.
He called him a "bad racist".
As a justification, he referred to an unverified Facebook comment in which it had been claimed without any evidence that Aogo had used a racist term for himself.
Palmer's statements were "racist and repulsive," which is why they are now examining an exclusion from the party, so Baerbock.
In fact, the Baden-Württemberg Greens decided on Saturday to initiate a corresponding procedure.
The outrage is just as little new as Palmer's reaction: The 48-year-old feels misunderstood this time too, he claims to have meant his statements ironically.
"Of course, it was clear to me that the Facebook allegations against Aogo, which I alluded to, are very likely a fake," said Palmer of the "Bild" newspaper.
"My comment was a recognizably completely grotesque and insane accusation of racism against Aogo."
Palmer speaks of a misunderstanding, the Greens see targeted provocations: this has happened often in the past.
And it was noticeably often about migration and racism.
An overview.
Corona deaths
In
April 2020
, Palmer called for the Corona requirements to be relaxed and said in this context: "I'll tell you very brutally: We may save people in Germany who would be dead in six months anyway - due to their age and previous illnesses." Statements sparked violent protests and calls for resignation from their own party.
At the beginning of May, Baerbock announced that Palmer would no longer be supported by the party if he ran again.
Rail advertising
In
April 2019
, Palmer made derogatory comments about an advertising campaign by Deutsche Bahn in which, among others, Nazan Eckes from Turkey and the German-Ghanaian chef Nelson Müller could be seen.
"Which society is this supposed to represent?" Wrote Palmer.
Numerous Greens sharply criticized the statements as racist, including party leaders Baerbock and Robert Habeck.
They announced that they would withdraw political support for Palmer.
"Conspicuous" refugees
In
January 2019
, Palmer announced that Tübingen would put "suspicious" refugees on a central list.
In future, they should live in a guarded refugee shelter in Tübingen and their freedom of movement should be restricted.
Not only delinquents should be affected, but also "troublemakers" and "bad guys".
After the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior questioned the legal basis of the list at an early stage, the state's data protection officer finally prohibited its continuation in September 2020.
Berlin conditions
In
December 2018,
Palmer gossiped about Berlin in an interview.
"If I get there, I always think:
>
caution, exit the functioning part of Germany
'
' he said.
»As a bourgeois Baden-Wuerttemberg green plant, I simply cannot cope with this mixture of crime, drug trafficking and bitter poverty on the street.
I don't want these conditions in Tübingen. "
Confrontation with student
Just shortly before, in
November 2018
, late in the evening in downtown Tübingen, Palmer had a clash with a student who had allegedly made a derogatory remark about him.
In the course of the conflict, Palmer took out his ID card and pointed out that, as the "head of the local police department, he had the right to conduct an identity check to punish violations of local law" - in this case the "loud screaming after 10pm".
Train rides
In
September 2018
, Palmer claimed in a letter to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport that he knew from his own experience and conversations with many train attendants, “that in recent years the conflicts between black-and-white, young, male refugees on local trains in the country have become a real nuisance and have partly become a security problem «.
Both the Green Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann and Deutsche Bahn denied this.
Complaint about cyclists
In
April 2018
, Palmer got upset about a rough cyclist with dark skin: "That's not right for anyone and for an asylum seeker three times." He later called the statement a mistake.
Help for refugees
In
August 2017
, Palmer's book "We Can't Help Everyone" was published.
In it he warned that aid for refugees could overwhelm the country.
Already during the refugee crisis in 2015 Palmer had warned that Germany “did not have room for everyone”.
Facebook lock
In
December 2016
, Palmer was banned from Facebook for 24 hours.
There was allegedly no reason.
The politician himself said that his question "What happened to the Mohrenkopf?" Was the trigger.
Deportations to Syria
In
June 2016
, Palmer called for violent young refugees to be deported to Syria if necessary.
This is covered by the Geneva Convention, and there are "also areas in Syria that are not at war".
The then Greens chairman Simone Peter immediately rejected the demand - it was "classic Palmer nonsense".
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